Partners
by budgie-alison
Summary: Based on the "Hail, Hydra!" episode of season one. Black Widow appears asking for the Avengers' help.
1. Surprises

Clint had opened the door and there she was. No weapons or anything, asking for help. He didn't know what to think at the time, and he still didn't know. She was currently standing in his bedroom while he was getting changed in the bathroom connected to his room.

He was taking as long as possible because staring at himself in the mirror was a lot easier than trying to comprehend Natasha's presence. He hadn't needed to get changed, he was already in his costume from trying to shoot the arrow in the training room before.

He made the shot, regardless of what any of them say. At least Steve had his back.

There's a knock on the bathroom door and Clint opens it. This time, it's Tony. Whenever he opens doors nowadays it's never who he expects. He sighs.

"What?"

"You left her alone while you got changed? She could have escaped, taken down my systems or done something to JARVIS or—"

"She already did something to JARVIS, remember?"

Tony glares at him, or, Clint assumes he does. It's hard to tell when he's got the mask on. He should ask Natasha where she got the EMPs to shut the suit down. They would come in handy.

"Hurry up, Clint, or we'll take your girlfriend and leave without you."

Clint glances over Tony's shoulder at Natasha, not caring if he sees her eavesdrop. He catches her eye and looks away quickly.

"She's not my girlfriend, and I'm coming." He shoves his way past Tony and gets his quiver off of the desk. Pretending to check the arrows are all in order – he doesn't need to check, he always knows how many arrows are in there – he nods to Tony and Tony walks to the door.

"Don't be too long."

Clint hears him walk down the hallway, his suit making the weird noise it does when he walks. Clint wonders what it's like, being trapped in that iron. Suffocating? Probably.

"Do you need anything?" Clint asks without looking at her. He's still fumbling with the arrows.

"No." There is a pause. "What are you doing?"

He shrugs. "Just checking everything's there."

"You know it is."

He looks at her, now. "We should go." He slings the quiver into place. "Come on, the others will be waiting for us."

He holds the door open for her. Natasha walks past and stops right in front of him. Their faces are close and her hand momentarily brushes his; he tells himself it's not intentional but anything Natasha does is never unintentional.

"I am sorry, Clint."

He'd forgotten how green her eyes were. "We have to go." Determined not to look at her, he stares at the wall opposite. Too green. Ridiculously green.

There is an awful, long silence that probably only goes for half a second and then Natasha leaves the room. Clint leads her down the hallway after shutting the door.

"So. Got all your arrows, then?"

He nods curtly.

"I do need something."

"What?" he asks as he scans his ID card to get through a door. There's nothing he can give her; she's got the highest tech out of everyone except Tony, and he won't share his toys with her.

She doesn't say anything and he turns around to glare at her. He's been doing a lot of glaring, lately, and it's starting to hurt.

"I ... nothing."

He doesn't like her eyes. They see too much of him. Continuing into the next room, they soon arrive at the hangar. Tony tells him to get into the smaller jet with Natasha and Hank. Hank's already in there, normal sized. He gives a wave and Clint nods back at him.

"You'll go for the tracer first, we'll follow, give you back up," Tony says, his faceplate lifted. He leans in and speaks quietly. "If she tries anything, Hawkeye, you have to take her down. Can you do that?"

"Is that why you've got Hank in our plane? In case I'm weak? Look, _Iron Man_, I don't have any powers or some high-tech suit but I am not-" He exhales sharply. "I'll take her out if I have to."

He's said this all too loud and everyone has heard. He pretends not to have noticed and waits for Tony's reply.

"Hank is in there because if we get separated, you won't be able to hold off anyone on your own. Now get in the jet and do not compromise our mission because of her."

The faceplate comes down and Tony walks away. Natasha is already getting into the plane. Clint hurries to catch up with her, aware that everyone is watching him.

After Natasha is in the jet, Steve waits for Clint at the bottom of the ladder. He puts a hand on Clint's shoulder when he's near enough.

"I'll be fine, Captain."

"I can switch with you, if you need it."

Clint shakes his head. "I need this." Without any further word, he climbs up into the jet and Hank shrinks, climbing onto Clint's shoulder.

"Is your seatbelt on?" Clint asks her.

A click. "Yes."

"Good. Let's go."

He doesn't like that she's sitting behind him. She could do anything. Hank can see her, but she could easily take him out if he's the size of a god damned ant. The skin on the back of Clint's neck prickles and he suppresses a shiver.

Why in hell did she have to come back? Why now? Where is Fury? Maybe she's taken him out.

But it's time to focus on the mission, now. He fires up the jet and prepares for the flight.


	2. Changes

**I've used the dialogue from the episode, so I definitely didn't write that, haha. Property of Marvel, etc etc.**

* * *

Clint still won't look at her. They were partners. To feel this way about him is dangerous. She is a spy; she knows the risks of being attached to someone. She's not just attached, though, she's ...

She had always hoped that he'd forgive her, but she worried the betrayal would have been too great.

Of course it was.

She shakes her head, but it does nothing to clear her thoughts. It should be easier if he hates her. This way she can leave as soon as they have the cube, and she can find Fury without any baggage to worry about.

They're close to the tracker, now.

"Keep her here," Hank says from Clint's shoulder. Clint stops the jet and it hovers in midair.

"We need to get down onto the street. The tracer's that way." Natasha points.

Hank nods. "Wait for my signal." He flies out of the jet on an actual ant - that part Natasha still has a little trouble believing and it would seem ridiculous if their mission wasn't so important.

Hank's ants cover enemies across the street and it makes her skin crawl to look at them; what must it feel like?

She pulls out her gun and takes a shot, Hawkeye doing the same with an arrow, hitting a Hydra soldier in the chest.

They jump out of the jet and land on the street.

"Just like old times, right?" Hawkeye says as he takes out another soldier. She used to be surprised at how easily banter came to him in a fight. Now she knows he just has a big mouth.

"Except for all the lies and betrayal."

Now would not be the best time to talk about it. Distractions are not exactly what she wants in the middle of a fight. Banter she can deal with, but this is important. "You think it wasn't hard for me, Clint?"

She kicks an enemy and he falls, she shoots him and spins around to face Clint, who is reloading his bow.

"Which part, framing me? Or beating me up?" He takes a shot, hits his target. He glances at her before shooting another enemy.

Natasha would roll her eyes, but she needs to see who she's shooting at.

"I had my orders. You would have done the same thing."

Would he, though? Hawkeye is good, but he's not her. Natasha is used to the espionage, but is he? Could he handle it? She knees someone; he goes down as Hawkeye takes out another with a punch.

Hank returns from his ants and switches into his normal size. "I don't believe that. Hawkeye was your partner and your friend. Couldn't you have just tried trusting him?"

The last enemy rushes up to Natasha, she takes him out easily. Hydra does not train their soldiers well. "No."

"I just don't understand that."

Something switches in Hawkeye and he stands a little straighter. There is a smile hidden in his face.

"I do. I don't like it, but I get it. Undercover is undercover."

So, all he needed was someone to take his viewpoint just so he could disagree. She forces herself not to smirk.

"She couldn't have gained Strucker's trust without doing what she did." He looks at her, now. Properly looks. "I must've been one big pain in your backside."

"You've no idea." Now she smiles. Ant-Man says something but she's not really listening. If he weren't here, she could just say-

A beep goes off in her pocket.

"That one." She points at the nearest Hydra vessel. "That's the one the tracer signal is on.

Ant-Man - Giant-Man? She can't quite figure him out - literally plucks the ship out of the sky and the remaining Hydra soldiers fall out.

"Baron Strucker wanted you to have this. Traitor."

Her tracer. Shit.

"Come on. We have to move."

Hawkeye shoots an arrow up at the jet and soon they're all inside. Flying for a few moments, they locate Strucker using one of Tony's gadgets. Clint stops in front of a window.

"I'll shoot you to him."

Hank looks at him, mouth open. "What?"

"Get on my arrow. I'll shoot you to him." Clint waggles the arrow in front of Hank's face.

"That does not sound good."

"Come on, Hank. We don't have time."

Hank shrinks himself to ant size and lets Clint pick him up and places him on the arrowhead. He lies flat against it.

"You're sure you can make this shot?"

"He'll make it."

Hawkeye takes the shot and sure enough, Hank goes shooting across the distance, smashing windows as he goes. Soon, he is out of sight.

Clint turns to Natasha and takes off his mask. She had almost forgotten his face without it. She'd never told him how ridiculous the costume made him look, or how much she liked it despite.

There was the slightest tan line across his nose and cheeks, barely visible in this light. She didn't remember that being there. Had she simply forgotten, or was it new? It had only been three months.

His nose she remembers perfectly. She broke it on one of their first assignments. It was his fault. He got in her way.

She almost requested a new partner, thinking he was a bit of an idiot, but something about him, even then when she barely knew him, made her change her mind. She couldn't figure it out for the longest time.

And now she knows but she needs to ignore that because they're on a mission. They cannot afford distraction.

"Thanks," he says.

He startles her and she jumps. "What?"

He runs a hand through his hair, opens his mouth, thinks better of it.

Pulling the mask back on, he pulls his seatbelt across his chest and straps it in.

"Nothing. We should get to the warehouse."


	3. Shadows

They entered the burning warehouse through a broken window, but anything after that is a blur. They got the cube, Strucker and MODOC were arrested, there was the relief that came after a fight and not dying.

Now, while everyone is guarding MODOC and Strucker until SHIELD arrive to take them away, Natasha pulls Clint to the side.

She bites her lip before speaking. "I need to get out of here."

He had always assumed she would stay.

"What? Why?"

"Please."

She could easily slip away without him. Why is she telling him this? As soon as the cube was touched, she could have slipped away then; everyone had been distracted. Hell, she could have gone right before she pulled him over.

"Okay."

No one sees them leave. They weave their way through the shipping containers. He rounds a corner and freezes - three SHIELD soldiers are in front of him. Natasha grabs a hold of his shoulder and pulls him back around the corner,

"They didn't see me, had their backs turned." He's breathing heavily. Not from tiredness, his heart is beating too fast.

She pushes him up against the container, pinning him there with her forearm, into the shadows as more soldiers pass close by. They discuss something with the group Clint almost ran into and then continue on their path, away from him and Natasha.

He can feel her breath, light and fast, on his cheek and he misses her. He misses being with her all the time. They practically lived on the helicarrier together when they weren't on missions. She was a constant presence and now he's never going to see her again.

"Natasha," he begins.

"Shh." She leans the smallest bit closer as she speaks. "Wait."

Soon enough, another lone SHIELD soldier passes. The footsteps soon disappear and Natasha lets him go.

"Yes?"

She turns to him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Don't go."

How can she leave him again? She knows how he feels. Is that why she came to him for help, because she knew he couldn't say no?

"Clint, I ... I." She takes a deep breath. "Fury is missing. I have to find him. Even if ..." She clears her throat. "Come on. SHIELD are going to overrun this place soon and they won't be happy to see me. And they certainly won't take kindly to you helping me, either."

She sticks her head around the corner.

"It's clear, come on." She dashes across the pathway and hides behind another shipping container. They continue on, not talking.

Clint keeps an eye out behind them, but soon the amount of people they see dwindles and when they stop in an alleyway on the outskirts of the shipping yard.

They sit on a couple of boxes and wait, catching their breath. Clint's fogs in front of his face and he pushes his luck by shuffling a bit closer to her. For warmth, he can say, if she asks.

She doesn't.

"How did you escape the gamma radiation?" he asks. Maybe if he keeps to conversation going, she won't leave. Somehow, he can convince her to stay.

She laughs. "I've got a few tricks. Maybe you remember." She nudges him in the shoulder.

"I don't think I could forget."

Their eyes meet and she smiles sadly. She looks so tired, so much older than when he first saw her last. How long had she been reporting to Strucker before he found the messages?

"I'm sorry things had to go the way they did."

He shrugs. "Fury needed the best."

She puts a hand on his arm, the arm that is not covered by his costume, catching her fingers on the purple band around his upper arm. She slips her hand under the material, her skin cool against his.

"What's it for?"

He has momentarily forgotten how to speak. He can feel his pulse against her fingertips. "I, um. The ... I don't know. For show."

She takes out her hand and hesitates, then takes his hand in hers.

Clint takes a sharp breath in and she doesn't say anything. Maybe she is as terrified of this as he is.

"What's it like, living in a place on the ground?"

He snorts. "Less seasickness. Airsickness. Hulk takes up all the hot water."

"He didn't seem to like me very much. Neither did Wasp. Or anyone, for that matter."

_They wouldn't_, he thinks. Not when he's been talking of nothing but Natasha whenever he got someone to listen to him. Janet was the best to talk to. Tony either didn't care or couldn't deal with emotion, Clint suspected it was both. Bruce was never around, Steve had his own problems to worry about, Hank was always too busy in his laboratory. T'Challa barely spoke. Thor was too hard to talk to.

Janet didn't mind if he had a bit too much to drink, either. She would complain about Hank and have a bit too much herself, too.

"Well, I may have said some things. I thought you'd betrayed me, I-"

"Don't worry about it." She smiles at him but the sadness is still there.

She stands and lets go of his hand. "It's time for me to go. They would have got MODOC and Strucker locked up by now."

"Wait here, I'll check if it's safe."

A squad of SHIELD soldiers run past. He takes a deep breath. "You're clear."

She steps out of the shadows. There's no way he can make her stay, he knows. Her mind is made up.

"This is crazy, Natasha. Come back to the mansion with me. The Avengers will protect you until we can locate Fury."

She doesn't need protection. He knows, she knows. But he needs her there, can't she understand?

She takes a step forward. "No. I have to find him."

Her voice wavers on the _no_. That was unexpected. She places her hands on his chest and he doesn't know what to do. If he says anything now, he won't be able to form words. His heart feels like it's choking him, wrapped around his windpipe, swelled up too big inside his chest.

"Clint, if Fury really is missing, then something terrible has happened."

He feels her hands slide up to his shoulders, almost on his neck. He can't look at her face, so he watches her hands.

"Come with me."

He can't go with her, he knows that. "I can't. I'm an Avenger. They're my partners, now."

He can't think of any other words, though there is so much to say, he can't think of anything except that sentence that falls so short of everything. He wants to tell her how much she scares him, how she makes him feel too much. But there are no words for that.

Then she kisses him and he doesn't need to say anything. There had never been a kiss quite like this one for him. He has kissed happy people, angry people, lustful, sad, indifferent people, but has never quite felt this desperate loneliness in someone else before. His hands go to her waist and if he had the option, he would never let her go.

But he doesn't and she breaks away. Her eyes are too deep. He is good at keeping people out, but, right now, she gets in. She sees too much of him and he hates and loves her for it.

Without another word, she runs. He stands in the alleyway for too long, long after she's gone.

* * *

**Again, some dialogue is from the show and is not my property!**

**This is the last chapter at the moment. When ****(if?) ****BW comes back into the show, I may continue this but, for now, that's all. Thank you for reading!**


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